(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to wind deflectors of the type used on vehicles such as motorcycles, snowmobiles, all-terrain-vehicles (ATVs), watercraft, and other fast-moving, open-cockpit vehicles having a windshield. More specifically, the present invention is a wind deflector assembly attachable to the exterior, front, or side surface of a vehicle windshield or body, adaptable to be connected to differently shaped and contoured windshields and bodywork, tunable to obtain the desired wind deflection effect and, in some embodiments, removable and reattachable to the vehicle windshield or other aerodynamically desirable locations on the vehicle body.
(2) Description of the Prior Art
Windshields (or windscreens) of the type used on motorcycles, snowmobiles, all terrain vehicles (ATVs), watercraft, and other fast-moving, open-cockpit vehicles are, for the most part, fabricated from high-impact plastic materials which can be molded and contoured into complex streamlined shapes selected to offer minimal wind resistance while, at the same time, offering the driver protection from the wind, flying objects, and other potentially injurious occurrences. Unfortunately, airstream management is not a static problem that can be satisfactorily handled on a permanent basis by even a well-designed windshield. Instead, wind, driving conditions, speed, weather, temperature, and even terrain call for adjustments in the manner in which the wind is managed for optimal comfort and performance. For example, as simple a thing as deflecting cold air around the body, particularly the hands, in cold weather versus directing a stream of cool air over the body in the summer calls for movable extensions adjustably attached to the windshield.
Proper and efficient air management becomes vastly more complex when such things as turbulence, noise, efficiency and, most especially, vehicle control problems are considered. A rider must, for instance, be able to hear well if he or she is to operate a motorcycle safely on the highway or in traffic. If it becomes too noisy to hear properly due to turbulent air conditions existing behind a windshield caused by an improperly adjusted extension or deflector attached to the windshield, a decidedly unsafe operating condition has been created. Moreover, two-wheeled vehicles, such as motorcycles, are, by their very nature, less stable than vehicles having three or more wheels. This means, of course, that any crosswinds can be quite dangerous and of considerable concern. While such conditions are encountered much of the time the vehicle is being used, the adverse effects of these crosswinds can, to some extent at least, be counteracted and diminished by using a carefully adjusted wind deflector to set up an air current in opposition thereto. The thing to be avoided, obviously, is the use of such a deflector to set up wind currents that create control problems when none exists naturally.
Preshaped transparent wind deflectors are well known in the prior art. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 2,727,782 shows a rigid and transparent deflector for use on the hood of an automobile. U.S. Pat. No. 4,089,556 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,331,358 both reveal shaped winglets mounted upon the side margins of a fairing or windshield that roughly follow its contours, the prior being straight while the latter is curved. Nevertheless, any contouring necessary to match the shape of the windscreen upon which it is to be mounted is done during manufacturing at the factory and no provision is made for the user to do it himself or herself so as to accommodate different fairings or operating conditions. Italian Pat. 643,237 appears to include shapeable areas in the upper righthand and lefthand corners; however, the curtain material is clearly a thin transparent sheet which would be incapable of maintaining anything like a precise contour unless framed all the way around, certainly not if supported at spaced points along one edge.
Planar and unshapeable hinged winglets are old in the art, examples appearing in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,309,056, 2,816,795, and 3,791,313, along with various foreign patents—Austrian Pat. 18,811, and three British Pats. 241,692, 248,533, and 208,888, for example. Even hinged winglets using ball-and-socket connections are old, examples being found in U.S. Pat. No. 2,062,483.
Also quite relevant in the prior art is applicant's own U.S. Pat. No. 4,700,919 which discloses a wind deflector winglet assembly that attaches to the trailing edge of a windshield. Despite its novel design, the prior art winglet device in applicant's U.S. Pat. No. 4,700,919 includes some limitations and drawbacks that are addressed by the present invention. For example, the prior art winglet devices use a cantilevered suspension, and the resulting force alignment creates torsion loading on the device mount. Thus, in the prior art device, the forces are managed by a mounting arm under deflection. This design causes more flex and less rigidity, resulting in more limited mass and wind loading capabilities. Though some compression loading does occur with the prior art winglet device (when the arms are positioned inwards to bow the wing), the greatest forces of wind and road shock remain torsion loading. The present invention, however, uses compression loading to control the wind load. Though the wind load vector varies with wind deflector angle, most loading channels through the mounts onto the vehicle surface are aligned as compression in the present invention. To illustrate, with the wind deflector of the present invention set to deflect air up over a rider, the wind forces press the deflector into its base with greater force as the wind speed increases. This results in a stronger, more stable mount than the prior art winglet device. This also permits the wind deflector of the present invention to be mounted, in alternative embodiments, using mounting techniques other than the clamshell-type folding clamp as used the prior art winglet, such as detachable hook-and-loop as well as magnetic mounts.
Another distinction between the prior art winglet device disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,700,919 and the wind deflector of the present invention is the comparative placement range of each device. Both the prior art winglet device and the present invention preferably are mounted about two inches from the vehicle's windshield's trailing edge. This location is due to the presence of a web-linked failsafe clamshell-type cap that backs up the primary mount should its pressure sensitive adhesive fail. While this location is a true physical limit of the placement range of the prior art winglet device, it is not a true placement range limit of the present invention. The mount of the present device, without the failsafe cap which is included in the preferred embodiment, could easily be placed virtually anywhere on the vehicle's windshield or bodywork. If one tried to move the mounts of the prior art winglet system, the attachment arms would have to be made stronger and adjustable in reach. And, even if one did this there would be no aerodynamic advantage, since the prior art winglet is, for all practical purposes, purposely designed to be mounted close to or at the trailing edge of the windshield as extensions of the windshield's trailing edge. The wind deflector of the present invention is designed with no such placement limits.
Since the wind deflector of the present invention can be placed virtually anywhere on the vehicle windshield or bodywork, performance potential is endless. For example, if the wind deflector of the present invention is placed close to the trailing edge of the windshield, its function could be to deflect air smoothly over the rider or to pull air into the capsule for cooling. Since the smoothest deflection varies with the angle of attach, and many motorcycle windshields have adjustable angles, the best wind deflection angle varies not only from rider to rider and bike to bike, but also according to changes in any particular windshield's pitch or height. Additionally, if the wind deflector of the present invention is placed low, near an induction vent, it may be used to force more air into the vent for counter balancing the motorcycle capsule's interior. It also could be used in this location for stabilizing the airflow over the surface to maintain laminar flow. Mounted on a fairing's sides, the wind deflector of the present invention can push or pull hot or cold air away from or towards the rider. Mounted in front of the fairing's fork opening, the wind deflector can eliminate the disruptive thrust of air that shoots up through the fork openings. The prior art winglet's restriction to trailing edge mounting prevents its effective use in the above applications.
No one, to applicant's knowledge, has combined the features of a wind deflector which attaches to the exterior, front surface of a vehicle windshield, or any aerodynamically desirable location on the vehicle bodywork, and has the capability of being adjusted releasably locked in place by the user so as to establish and maintain a chosen contour fitting a given, but transient, set of driving conditions. Moreover, this can be accomplished without having to drill or otherwise mar the finish of the windshield or the bodywork. Such a wind deflector may be offered as a customized accessory for use with a particular windshield or, alternatively, as an addition to any of the several available windshield makes and models. Such a wind deflector may also utilize hook-and-loop, magnetic, or other similar removably detachable mounting means to permit its attachment to any aerodynamically desirable location on the vehicle windshield or body.